Elm Court

06/04/2019

A Haunting?
Many famous guests crossed the threshold of Elm Court particularly in the days after William K. Vanderbilt’s two sons Wm K. Jr. and Harold S. Vanderbilt inherited the property. Mrs. Maria Hermann of Aiken in her reminiscences recalls meeting the great Polish pianist Josef Hofmann who was to become her husband at a house party at Elm Court. It was not her first meeting with Josef but it was the one which led to their romance.
William K. Vanderbilt and the other members of the Winter Colony arrived in Aiken early each Winter and opened their splendid "country" estates for house parties, concerts and other entertainments. Vanderbilt and other leaders of the Winter Colony entertained “en prince” at Aiken. Special trains brought many guests to these Southern estates each Winter for the house parties. .
David M. Tavernier in his book entitled “Stories of the Rich and Famous: Aiken’s Winter Colony in the Gilded Age” [Published September 23, 2012 by Outskirts Press] relates a story of paranormal occurrence at Elm Court experienced by the Vanderbilts in 1921.
The occurrence had its roots during the time that Elm Court served as the County Courthouse. On March 16, 1877 five convicted murderers were executed by hanging on the courthouse grounds. A gallows had been constructed on what had been the site of a beautiful archway which was covered in beautiful roses each year. The first of the five to be executed was Lucius Thomas who died with a promise to be back on his lips. The other prisoners each in their turn suffered the same fate.
William Kissam Vanderbilt passed away on July 22, 1920 while attending the races in Paris, France. His three children, Consuelo, William and Harold inherited the Elm Court estate. Some eight months later the three siblings had a reunion at Elm Court on the occasion of Consuelo* (see concluding note below) leaving for Europe to be married to French LTC Louis Jacques Balsan. and take up residence in France.
It is March 16, 1921 the forty-four year anniversary of the ex*****on of those five prisoners. The rose archway on the property is again covered red with blood roses which bloom early each year. Harold and William are at Elm Court awaiting the arrival of Consuelo who is expected the next day. The strange
occurrences of that evening are best reported by Mr. Tavernier's in “Stories of the Rich and Famous: Aiken’s Winter Colony in the Gilded Age" which is available on Amazon.com. This book provides much more information about Elm Court and the Chafee and Vanderbilt families.
Haunted? You be the judge.

* Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough.
Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan's memoir "The Glitter and the Gold" ―the story of the "real" Lady Grantham of Downton Abbey..
"The Glitter and the Gold" is a richly enjoyable memoir is a revealing portrait of a golden age now being celebrated every week behind the doors of Downton Abbey.―
Consuelo Vanderbilt was young, beautiful, and heir to a vast fortune. She was also in love with an American suitor when her mother chose instead for her to marry an English Duke. She sailed to England as the Duchess of Marlborough in 1895 and took up residence in her new home―Blenheim Palace. She was the real American heiress who lived long before Downton Abbey's Lady Grantham arrived.
Mme. Balsan is an unsnobbish and amused observer of the intricate hierarchy both upstairs and downstairs and a revealing witness to the glittering balls, huge weekend parties, and major state occasions she attended or hosted chronicling her encounters with every important figure of the day―from Queen Victoria, Edward VII and Queen Alexandra to Marlborough. Nicholas and the young Winston Churchill.
"The Glitter and the Gold" is a richly enjoyable memoir is a revealing portrait of a golden age now being celebrated every week behind the doors of Downton Abbey.

Attached painting is John Singer Sargent’s portrait of the 9th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and their two sons, painted in 1905.

11/02/2017

History of Elm Court

Gregg Mansion; Aiken’s First Courthouse, the Chafee home; the Walpole place; the Vanderbilt Estate; -- a long history for an ancient dwelling where surely ghosts must” have walked. Elm Court was built in the mid-1850s by William Jacob Gregg and his wife Mary Abigail Fleming. They erected a large rambling English looking manor house of over thirty rooms with a broad veranda, diamond paned windows and vertical batten board exterior. The house was known for many years afterwards as the Gregg Mansion. In 1872 the county purchased the house for use as the county courthouse.

The property was found not to be suitable for use as a courthouse and in 1882 it was sold to Mary Ann Kinloch Chafee, the widow of Otis Jacob Chafee, whose home at Kalmia Hill had burned. Otis had been a good friend of William Gregg, Sr. who had given each of his best friends in Charleston fifty acres each to join him in Aiken and build summer homes there. Kalmia Village became a fashionable place for the Low country rich. Otis Chafee had been in poor health and he died there in 1869.

Upon Mary Ann Chafee's death in 1891 the house was inherited by her daughter Emma Chafee Walpole After Emma died in 1896 the estate was purchased by her brother George Kinloch Chafee who sold it to the first of a series of winter residents who were to live there, brothers George T. and Roland W. Smith. They were young men, polo players and popular members of the Winter Colony. The house echoed with the sound of sportsmen coming and going and with the music and laughter of parties." It was the Smith family that gave the estate the name Elm Court, the name it has retained to the present time.

Joseph Low Harriman, Sr. was the next owner of the estate. He purchased the property in 1904 and made additions and renovations to the estate. The November 29, 1907 of the Aiken Journal and Review reported that "The palatial residence of Mrs. Joseph Harriman on Colleton Avenue has been greatly improved by extensive additions to the building during the summer."

In 1914 Elm Court was sold to William K. Vanderbilt grandson of the great Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt railroad and shipping magnate. The estate, which was across the street from the John Jacob Astor, IV house, was to remain in Vanderbilt hands for 12 years. After William's death this sons, William K. and Harold S. Vanderbilt, sold Elm Court to Augustus F. Goodwin in May 1926.

The Aiken Standard newspaper had the following to say about the sale “Elm Court… is one of the handsomest and most desirable of the Aiken winter homes.” “This is the largest realty transaction which has been effected in Aiken in many years past and will be one of the largest ever recorded here.”

The Goodwins were wealthy Bostonians who were the last of the winter colony to live in the historic home. The Goodwin family continued spending the winters in Aiken until 1951 when Elm Court was sold to Mrs. Harry Simowitz and Mrs. Hannah I. Fogel of Augusta. The historic old home was owned by John J. Cunning of Aiken when it burned on January 25, 1970.

09/25/2017

07/19/2017

07/19/2017

I purchased the attached letter recently. It almost certainly refers to the sale of Elm Court to the county by William Gregg, Jr. and his wife Mary Fleming Gregg.

The letter written by David Fleming (Mary's father) of Charleston, S.C. to James J. Gregg of Augusta, GA (William's brother) concerning the sale of property in Aiken and his ability to support his daughters children. It reads in part: "Your extraordinary communication of the 29th Inst. to my daughter Mary was handed to me for my perusal and that part of it where my name is mentioned I am surprised at. As regards having any conservation with you in regard to what disposition would be made of the money that is to be realized from the sale of the Aiken property. I never did neither directly of indirectly. As regards being perfectly able to maintain my own daughter that is my business and not yours. I am able to support her and truly hope to be able to do so as long I live. You overlooked the fact that she has two children that bears the name of Gregg and those children are as dear to us as our own and they will be provided for as long as I have a dollar, if their father is not able to do so. With the large debt that you are determined to hold over him he cannot make a living for them.......... ".

James J. Gregg was a Confederate officer in Co. B of the 6th S.C. Cavalry. His father was William Gregg, Sr. of Gregg & Hayden in Charleston who later opened a textile operation in Graniteville.

02/19/2017

02/08/2017

John Jacob Astor, IV owned a "Cottage" across the street from Elm Court. He and his bride, Madeleine Force, had been on an extended honeymoon in Egypt and Paris and, in the spring of 1912, decided to return to America as First Class passengers on board the brand new Titanic .John drown but Madeleine survived.

09/15/2016

Elm Court Estate Sold to Vanderbilts


In 1914 Elm Court Joseph Low Harriman, Sr. sold Elm Court to William K. Vanderbilt grandson of the great Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt railroad and shipping magnate. The estate, which was across the street from the John Jacob Astor, IV house, was to remain in Vanderbilt hands for 12 years.
There was a rumor that Vanderbilt won the house in a poker game. The deed states that the estate was sold " ...in consideration of other valuable considerations and the sum of one dollar" paid to William K. Vanderbilt. However, a prominent Aiken attorney said this type of wording in old deeds is not unusual. Still, poker stakes were high among the Winter Colony. The Vanderbilts made many changes in the house including adding the diamond paned window sections which were quite a novelty.

A seldom mentioned fact that may have influenced the sale was the fact that Joseph L. Harriman was the brother of William Vanderbilt's wife Ann. The Harrimans were a wealthy family which included industrialists, railroad barons, bankers, Joseph never engaged in business, although he had a connection with the Harriman National Bank of which his cousin, Joseph W. Harriman, was founder and a director.

06/29/2016

Added photos of the Smiths. The next post will be this week.

06/29/2016

The Chafee estate, Elmwood Cottage, was sold in 1898 to the first of a series of winter residents who were to live there, brothers George T., Edward L and Roland W. Smith. The brothers were lighthearted young men, avid polo players and popular members of the Winter Colony who also enjoyed a full social life.. The Smiths were from Ballston Spa, NY and had made their fortune in banking. Please see the attachment regarding the Smith family. The house echoed with the sound of sportsmen coming and going and with the music and laughter of parties." The Smith family gave the estate a new name, Elm Court, the name it has retained to the present time.
See the clipping below from page 4 of the Wed. Mar 21, 1900 edition of the Journal and Review using the name Elm Court. It is often reported that it was the Vanderbilts who gave the estate the name Elm Court when they purchased it in 1914. It appears that this is not the case.